French National Anthem
La Marseillaise was composed by Claude-Joseph Rouget de Lisle in 1792 and was declared the French national anthem in 1795.Let's go children of the fatherland,
The day of glory has arrived!
Against us tyranny's
Bloody flag is raised! (repeat)
In the countryside, do you hear
The roaring of these fierce soldiers?
They come right to our arms
To slit the throats of our sons, our friends!
Refrain
Grab your weapons, citizens!
Form your batallions!
Let us march! Let us march!
May impure blood
Water our fields!
I know it was written in the wake of the French Revolution, a noble undertaking to be sure, but my God, it sounds like the teabaggers! Oh, if they only knew the French were spoutin' the same stuff they are! Heh. Irony lives!
The difference being that the French actually did something good for themselves and the teabaggers are just mouthin' off about something they know nothing about and are too cowardly and comfortable to actually get off their asses and go do what they say. They're revolting enough as it is.
Now, there are other verses still in use, but as if the verse and refrain above aren't bloody-minded enough, there are several verses that are not used any more. Here's just one:
Tremble, tyrants! and you, traitors,
The disgrace of all groups,
Tremble! Your parricidal plans
Will finally pay the price! (repeat)
Everyone is a soldier to fight you,
If they fall, our young heros,
France will make more,
Ready to battle you!
Big talk from a buncha surrender monkeys! (Boy, am I gonna hear about that comment! Heh.)
Makes 'The Star-Spangled Banner' seem kinda tame, huh?
In fairness, I went and looked up O Canada. There is an official English version:
O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!
From far and wide, O Canada,
We stand on guard for thee.
God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
And an official French version:
O Canada!
Land of our ancestors,
Thy brow is wreathed with a glorious
garland of flowers.
As in thy arm ready to wield the sword,
So also is it ready to carry the cross.
Thy history is an epic
Of the most brilliant exploits.
Thy valour steeped in faith
Will protect our homes and our rights
Will protect our homes and our rights.
There's also an Inuktitut version, Uu Kanata, which I couldn't find a translation of, but which I bet contains the phrase "white devils" in it somewhere. I'll work on it.
It seems there is a cultural divide in The Great White North as if they brought the English Channel with them!
On the basis of these different versions of the anthem, the English Canadians seem to me to be just like Americans, only without the attitude of superiority, more polite, and they get cheaper meds which may explain it.
The French Canadians are ready ta rock 'n roll on anybody's ass that fucks with 'em. Much more romantic, though.
Two kinda interesting factoids:
Many have noted that the opening theme of "O Canada", composed in c. 1880, bears a great resemblance to the "Marsch der Priester" (March of the Priests), from Die Zauberflöte, composed in 1791 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. [...]
The religious right would love that in our national anthem, if it wasn't about Catholics. "Batcrap crazy hatin' preachers" might be a little hard to fit in.
During the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, BC, Canada, Stephen Colbert and Michael Bublé performed the lyrics of "O Canada" to the tune of The Star Spangled Banner (the US national anthem.)[
Now there ya go!
This was probably the most pointless thing I've done
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